Detroit Pistons small forward Ausar Thompson will be held out of contact drills to start training camp after a blood clot ended his rookie season.
Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon says Thompson is going through a medical process with the league and National Basketball Players Association.
Thompson said on Monday that he feels great, but doesn’t know when he will be fully cleared for training camp.
“It’s not really in our hands,” he said. “No timeline right now.”
Langdon said Thompson has been cleared for non-contact drills, conditioning and strength training.
“We’re supporting him as much as possible and just waiting for the resolution,” Langdon said at the team’s media day. “We look forward to having him back.”
Detroit drafted the 6-foot-6 Thompson with the No. 5 overall pick in 2023 out of the Overtime Elite developmental program. He averaged 8.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 63 games.
He played his last game of the season March 9 and later that month, the team announced he would miss the rest of the year due to a blood clot.
I’m glad the doctors caught it,” said former Pistons coach Monty Williams last spring.
The team indicated doctors cleared Thompson to resume conditioning following last season along with non-contact basketball activities and is expected to make a full return for the 2024-25 season.
Detroit is going on another rebuilding plan this season under owner Tom Gores, seeking to restore pride for a three-time championship franchise that finished with the NBA’s worst record the past two seasons.
The Pistons have not won a playoff game since 2008, when they played in the Eastern Conference finals for the sixth time in a row and have been the last-place team in the Central Division over the last four seasons.
Langdon, brought in to replace the fired GM Troy Weaver, whose teams won 23 percent of their games over four seasons, is running the front office. After moving on from Williams a season into his six-year $78.5 million deal, Detroit brought in coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
Detroit landed Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft, with a $224 million, five-year contract extension to stay with a team that added some veterans in the offseason to join Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey.
The Pistons signed Tobias Harris and Malik Beasley, acquired Tim Hardaway Jr. from Dallas in a trade and selected Ron Holland of the G League Ignite with the No. 5 pick in the NBA draft.
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